Patent analyzing system

ABSTRACT

A patent analyzing system for efficiently reviewing and analyzing a patent document (e.g. patent application, published patent document or patent). The patent analyzing system includes identifying the element names within a patent document and modifying patent drawing sheets to include element names and figure descriptions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

I hereby claim benefit under Title 35, United States Code, Section 120of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/132,674 filed Jun. 4, 2008. Thisapplication is a continuation of the Ser. No. 12/132,674 application.The Ser. No. 12/132,674 application is currently pending with an IssueDate of Apr. 17, 2012. The Ser. No. 12/132,674 application is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

I hereby claim benefit under Title 35, United States Code, Section119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/942,361 filedJun. 6, 2007. The 60/942,361 application. The 60/942,361 application ishereby incorporated by reference into this application. The Ser. No.12/132,674 application claims priority to the 60/942,361 application.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable to this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to patent management tools andmore specifically it relates to a patent analyzing system forefficiently reviewing and analyzing a patent document (e.g. patentapplication, published patent document or patent).

2. Description of the Related Art

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should inno way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely knownor forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Conventional patent analysis software is currently used to analyze thecontent of large numbers of patents (referred to often times as “patentanalytics”). In additional to patent analysis software available,software and websites are available that allow for the searching,downloading and viewing of patents (e.g. PATENTHUNTER, www.uspto.gov,www.ipsearchengine.com). While the previous patent analysis and patentsearching software are good for the purpose they are intended, they arenot focused upon the detailed analysis of the content for an individualpatent.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally comprises identifying the element nameswithin a patent document and modifying patent drawing sheets to includeelement names and figure descriptions.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofmay be better understood, and in order that the present contribution tothe art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of theinvention that will be described hereinafter and that will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not beregarded as limiting.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a patentanalyzing system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior artsystems.

A second object is to provide a patent analyzing system for efficientlyreviewing and analyzing a patent document (e.g. patent application,published patent document or patent).

Another object is to provide a patent analyzing system that reduces theamount of time required to review and analyze a patent document.

An additional object is to provide a patent analyzing system thatreduces the amount of time required to review and analyze the writtenportion of a patent document.

A further object is to provide a patent analyzing system that reducesthe amount of time required to review and analyze the claims portion ofa patent document.

Another object is to provide a patent analyzing system that reduces theamount of time required to review and analyze the drawings of a patentdocument.

A further object is to provide a patent analyzing system that may beutilized to analyze various types of patent documents including but notlimited to non-filed patent applications, filed patent applications,published patent applications, and granted patents.

A further object is to provide a patent analyzing system that is able toanalyze various formats of patent data including but not limited toHTML, XML, text, TIFF and PDF.

Another object is to provide a patent analyzing system that analyzes thetext and image portion of a patent document.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeobvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects andadvantages are within the scope of the present invention.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this inventionmay be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specificconstruction illustrated and described within the scope of the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters designate the same orsimilar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer network with adownload computer and patent websites connected to the exemplarycomputer network.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of the textanalysis portion of the present invention.

FIG. 3 a is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the text analysisand display portion of the present invention.

FIG. 3 b is a flowchart illustrating the identification of element nameswithin a patent document.

FIG. 3 c is a flowchart illustrating a first process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number thatutilizes the user's selection of a desired element name.

FIG. 3 d is a flowchart illustrating a second process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is either the longest orshortest based on a preference setting.

FIG. 3 e is a flowchart illustrating a third process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number byidentifying the commonly shared words immediately to the left of thenumber in each of the element name variations.

FIG. 3 f is a flowchart illustrating a fourth process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is used first or last withinthe patent document based on a preference setting.

FIG. 3 g is a flowchart illustrating a fifth process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is used the most (i.e. thegreatest number of occurrences) throughout the patent document.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingan index of elements created for U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe display of the text portion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe highlighting of a selected element (inductor 16) within the textportion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe highlighting of a selected element (inductor 16) within the textportion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333 and the displaying of only sentencescontaining the selected element.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe highlighting of a selected element (inductor 16) within the textportion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333 and the displaying of only paragraphscontaining the selected element.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe highlighting of multiple selected elements (inductor 16 andfluorescent tube 20) within the text portion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333and the displaying of only paragraphs containing both of the selectedelements.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe highlighting of a search term (starter circuit) within the textportion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333 and the displaying of only paragraphscontaining the selected element.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe claims of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary interface of the present invention illustratingthe images of U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary preferences interface that allows for themodification of the file locations of products and the location of imagefiles.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary preferences interface that allows for theselection of whether or not to automatically open the index of elementafter analyzing the patent, and also allows for adjusting the number ofwords allowed for each element name.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary preferences interface that allows for adjustmentof the method of emphasizing all of the element names throughout thepatent document.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary preferences interface that allows for adjustmentof the method of emphasizing selected element name(s) throughout thepatent document.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary preferences interface that allows for adjustmentof the method of searching for element names within the patent document.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the patent figure analysis andoverwriting procedure for inserting element names and figuredescriptions into the figures.

FIG. 19 is an exemplary table illustrating the index of elementsgenerated for U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,429.

FIG. 20 is an illustration of the element names and figure descriptionsinserted into the image of the patent drawings of U.S. Pat. No.6,793,429.

FIG. 21 is an illustration of the element names and figure descriptionsinserted into the image of the patent drawings of U.S. Pat. No.6,793,429 along with a pop-up text for element number 24 being selectedshowing the corresponding sentence text that contain the element number24.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A. Introduction

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context ofa particular application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accordedthe widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosedherein. The present invention may be operated as a computer programinstalled upon a download computer 20, via a website or other system. Itcan be also appreciated that even though the description below is aboutdownloading, searching and managing electronic patent files, the presentinvention may also be utilized for downloading, searching and managingelectronic trademark files and other types of electronic data (e.g.HTML).

The data structures and code described in this detailed description aretypically stored on a computer readable storage medium, which may be anydevice or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computersystem. This includes, but is not limited to, magnetic and opticalstorage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs),DVDs (digital video discs), and computer instruction signals embodied ina transmission medium (with or without a carrier wave upon which thesignals are modulated). For example, the transmission medium may includea communications network, such as the Internet.

B. Exemplary Global Computer Network

As shown in FIG. 1, the global computer network (e.g. Internet) 12 is anexemplary communications network for the present invention. The Internet12 is basically comprised of a “global computer network.” A plurality ofcomputer systems around the world are in communication with one anothervia this global computer network and are able to transmit various typesof data between one another. The communications between the computersystems may be accomplished via various methods such as but not limitedto wireless, Ethernet, cable, direct connection, telephone lines, andsatellite. One or more web servers typically provide the data to thecomputer systems connected via the Internet 12.

The present invention may also be utilized upon global computernetworks, local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), campusarea networks (CAN), metropolitan-area networks (MAN), and home areanetworks (HAN). Various protocols may be utilized by the electronicdevices for communications such as but not limited to HTTP, SMTP, FTPand WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). The present invention may beimplemented upon various wireless networks such as but not limited toCDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, REFLEX, IDEN, TETRA, DECT,DATATAC, and MOBITEX. The present invention may also be utilized withonline services and internet service providers such as AMERICA ONLINE(AOL), COMPUSERVE, WEBTV, and MSN INTERNET SERVICES. The presentinvention preferably utilizes the Internet 12 for transmitting data,however it can be appreciated that as future technologies are createdthat various aspects of the invention may be practiced with theseimproved technologies.

The present invention is preferably embodied within a softwareapplication installed upon the download computer 20. However, thepresent invention may be embodied in various other manners such as butnot limited to a central server computer or a web server that merelyprovide the results of the analyzed patent data.

C. Patent Documents

Patent documents may be comprised of various document including but notlimited to non-filed patent applications, filed patent applications,published patent applications, granted patents, patent certificates andpatent file wrappers. Downloading patent files (image and/or text) frompatent websites 30 (e.g. www.uspto.gov, ep.espacenet.com/) via a globalcomputer network 12 is well known in the art. The patent files may becomprised of issued patents, published applications or related patentdata. Various software programs (e.g. PATENTHUNTER sold by NeustelSoftware, Inc.) and websites currently allow for the downloading ofpatent files from patent websites 30.

A “patent number” may be comprised of a United States or foreign patentnumber (typically with a patent code in front of it). For example, PCTpublished applications have the prefix “WO” and Japanese patents havethe prefix “JP” before the patent number which are universally utilizedto identify the patent document. A patent number may also be comprisedof issued patents, published applications or other patent related data.With the present invention, if a letter prefix is not provided in thepatent number, then the present invention assumes the patent number is aUnited States patent document thereby not requiring the user to enter“US” as a prefix.

The patent documents are in a computer readable file format and may beavailable direction from the computer 20 or via downloading through theglobal computer network 12. For example, a user may analyze the text ofa MICROSOFT WORD document containing a patent application or an HTMLfile downloaded from the global computer network. Various other fileformats may be analyzed with the present invention.

D. Text Analysis of Patent Documents

1. Downloading/Importing Patent Documents

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of the textanalysis portion of the present invention. A patent document number(e.g. patent number) is input by the user or other means into thepresent invention. The patent document is then downloaded utilizingknown patent document downloading technology (e.g. PATENTHUNTER fromNeustel Software, Inc.) or imported into the present invention by goingto FILES/IMPORT FILE on the main menu. When importing a file (e.g. HTML,TXT, RTF, XML, DOC), the file is first located using a “browse” featureand then the file is imported into the present invention for analysis.It is preferable to download/import both the image and text data intothe present invention, however only the text data (e.g. HTML, XML, TXT,RTF) or only the image data (e.g. PDF, TIFF, JPG) may be downloaded. Inaddition, patent documents being viewed by a user (e.g. using MICROSOFTINTERNET EXPLORER or MICROSOFT WORD) may also be analyzed by a plug-ininto the program (e.g. right-click feature).

As shown FIGS. 2 and 4 of the drawings, the patent document number isentered into the interface of the present invention. FIG. 4 is anexemplary interface of the present invention illustrating an index ofelements created for U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333. The text data and theimage data of the patent document are thereafter acquired into thepresent invention.

The element names are then identified within the text data of the patentdocument. The element names preferably are identified that have anelement number behind them, however element names may be identified thatdo not have an element number corresponding with them.

An index of elements is thereafter generated based upon the elementnumbers and their corresponding element names as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4of the drawings. The index of elements may be printed for the user toview and utilize when reviewing the patent. The index of elements ispreferably a table having 2 or more columns because of the typicallarger number of elements within a patent document, however the index ofelements may be comprised of a listing of the elements. The index ofelements preferably organizes the elements by their element numbers,however the index of elements may be organize the elements by theiralphabetical order also. Special index of elements may also be createdthat are solely for individual figures. The index of elements may alsobe opened with a conventional word processor to allow for editing by theuser to correct any errors in the index of elements. A listing ofelements is further preferably created that may be utilized in analyzingthe actual text of the patent document as discussed later herein.

2. Analyzing and Displaying Patent Document

FIG. 3 a is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the text analysisand display portion of the present invention. The text of the patent isdisplayed within the present invention for the user to view along withthe listing of elements for the user to select. The listing of elementspreferably includes both the element number and element name. Theelements may be utilized to analyze any portion of the patent documentincluding the claims, specification and figures. In addition, the usermay select a particular figure number to analyze wherein all sentencesor paragraphs that contain reference to that figure will be shown.

The user selects 1 or more elements to analyze from the listing ofelements as shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. The selected element(s) isthereafter emphasized throughout the patent text as shown in FIG. 6 ofthe drawings. In addition to selecting an element from the listing, theuser may also enter a specific word(s) to search through the patent textand the same will be emphasized as illustrated in FIG. 10 of thedrawings. The typing of the text to search may require the user toselect a “search” or enter function prior to searching the patentdocument. Alternatively, the present invention may automatically beginsearching the patent document after the entry of 1 or more characters(numbers, letters or combinations thereof) in an “on the fly” type ofdisplay. For example, if the user types “induct” the display of thepresent invention would emphasize all locations in the patent documentthat have the word “induct” within them. If the user continues to type“inductor” then the present invention would emphasize all locations inthe patent document that have the word “inductor” within them. There maybe a slight delay feature that waits to search the document until apreset/adjusted period of time has passed since the typing of the lastcharacter (e.g. 2 seconds).

The emphasis of the selected element(s) is preferably comprised ofhighlighting and bolding as shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. However,the emphasis of the selected element(s) may be comprised of highlightingwith a color (e.g. yellow), bolding, italicizing, underlining or anycombination thereof that may be predetermined and/or adjusted by theuser in the preferences section. In addition to emphasizing only theselected element(s), the user may adjust the present invention toautomatically emphasize all elements identified throughout the patenttext as shown in FIG. 15 of the drawings.

The user also has the option of displaying only the sentence(s) orparagraph(s) containing the selected element(s) (or entered terms) toquickly locate the important portions of the patent document thatdiscuss the element(s) the user is reviewing as shown in FIGS. 3 a, 7and 8 of the drawings. When this feature is selected, only thesentence(s) or paragraph(s) containing the selected element(s) (orentered terms) will be displayed. A separator (e.g. ************* orhorizontal line) is preferably positioned between each of theindividually displayed sentences/paragraphs. In addition, it ispreferable to display the heading of the patent document that eachsentence/paragraph is from (e.g. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION, SUMMARY OFINVENTION, ABSTRACT, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION, CLAIMS). It isalso preferable for the user to be able to “expand” the displayed textto show the sentence/paragraph before/after the displayedsentence/paragraph by using a right-click feature or including an iconwithin the displayed text for the user to select (e.g. +/−).

FIG. 7 illustrates where the user has selected element number 16(inductor). The present invention searches all locations within thepatent document that include both the element name “inductor” followedby the element number “16”. Since only sentences are to be displayed inFIG. 7, only the sentences containing “inductor 16” as displayed withinthe present invention for the user to quickly view and read. FIG. 8illustrates this displaying the paragraphs that contain “inductor 16”within them. If the user has selected the option in FIG. 17 that allowsfor emphasis of the element name throughout the patent documentregardless if it has an element number or not, then all locations thatcontain the word “inductor” will be emphasized. FIGS. 7 through 9 bestillustrate wherein the element names and corresponding element numbersare displayed in a first display area of the interface. FIGS. 7 through9 further illustrate wherein the corresponding text portion thatincludes one or more selected element names is displayed in a seconddisplay area of the interface and wherein the second display area isseparate from the first display area.

FIG. 9 illustrates the selection of two elements (inductor 16 andfluorescent tube 20). Only the paragraphs containing these two elementsare displayed as shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings.

The selection of multiple elements to search within the patent documentis preferably combined using an “and” search connector. However, theuser may select an “or” connector which will show allparagraphs/sentences that contain either of the selected elements asshown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. The “or” connector is useful insituations where there may be multiple variations of a particularelement name (e.g. “tube 20”, “fluorescent tube 20” and “fluorescentlight tube 20” in FIG. 9).

The user can clear the element(s) being searched and may choose newelements to search. The user may also select “back” and “forward”features to go back or forward with respect to their “history” ofelement searches which reduces the amount of time the user has to expendwhen searching through various element names (see the Back and Forwardbuttons in FIG. 7). A detailed history may also be shown that lists allof the elements and combination of elements the user has researchedwithin the patent document to allow the user to reselect the same.

The user can copy/paste, open in an editable document and/or print thesentence(s)/paragraph(s) displayed for one or more selected elements.

3. Identifying Element Names

A significant feature of the present invention is the ability toidentify the “element names” used to identify/label each of the elementnumbers” (i.e. the reference numerals used in the patent drawings). Apatent document may have only a few elements or hundreds of elements init. Each of the elements is typically identified in the patent drawingswith a reference numeral as shown in FIG. 12 of the drawings. FIG. 3 bis a flowchart illustrating the identification of element names within apatent document. Below is a basic step-by-step identification of elementnames within a patent document:

-   -   Step #1: Identify an Element Number    -   Step #2: Identify word(s) to the left of the Element Number        until either a Preceding Word or a paragraph break is found (or        a period followed by at least one space for a sentence).    -   Step #3: Check to ensure that a Non-Element Word is not directly        next to the Element Number (if so, this is not an element name).

i. Element Number

An “Element Number” is a number (or a number followed by a letter orother character immediately thereafter without a space) that iscomprised of one or more digits (Example: “As shown in FIG. 12, themetal hammer 12a is used to . . . ” the “12a” is the Element Number”).The element number may be comprised of 1, 2, 3, 4 or more numbers alongwith other letters/characters positioned immediately thereafter (e.g.12, 20a, 20b, 30′, 30″).

ii. Preceding Words

A “Preceding Word” is a word (or phrase or character) that immediatelyprecedes an element name (Example: “As shown in FIG. 12, the metalhammer 12a is used to . . . ” the word “the” is a Preceding Word). Thepresent invention utilizes a database of preceding words to be used inidentifying preceding words within the patent document. Various types ofwords are always a preceding word (e.g. a, an, the, are, illustrates,produces, represents, then, to, utilizes, when, within, etc.). Certainphrases (e.g. “by cooking”), characters (e.g. comma, semi-colon) andformatting (e.g. paragraph break) may also be used as “Preceding Words”.

The preceding words are words/phrases are words/phrases that aretypically not utilized by a patent applicant to identify/label elementsof the invention or other items. The types of words preferably used as“Preceding Words” in the database are articles (e.g. a, an, the, said),prepositions (above, near, at, by, after, with, from), conjunctions,(e.g. and, or, because, but, or, since, so, until, while, both, notonly, either, whether, after, before, although, though, consequently,furthermore, instead, conversely), verbs (e.g. have, run, be, do,creates, directed, executed, compiled, adverbs (e.g. how, where,earlier, next, then, first, second, third, fourth, there), contractions(e.g. can't, don't, isn't), pronouns (e.g. I, me, she, who, he, her,him, it, you, they, them), some punctuation marks (except “−” or “′”),expletives (e.g. of course, at least, in fact, clearly, definitely,certainly, naturally), relative adjectives (e.g. which, that, what,whichever, whatever) and symbols (!, /, *, @, $). The database ofpreceding words is used to determine if a word to the left of theelement number identified is part of the element name or is a precedingwords that serves as the left-most stopping point for determining theelement name. There are exceptions to this general rule which mayrequire modification of the database of words to accurately reflectwords that typically precede an element name.

The database of preceding words may be updated periodically to reflectmodern terminology utilized in patent documents. The database ofpreceding words may also be edited by the user to allow for the additionor deletion of preceding words if they are experiencing problems withthe current listing of preceding words.

iii. Element Names

The “Element Name” is the actual name of the element which can be one ormore words. The Element Name is the word(s) positioned between thePreceding Word and the Element Number (Example: “As shown in FIG. 12,the metal hammer 12a is used to . . . ” the Element Name is “metalhammer” because the Element Number is “12a” and the Preceding Word is“the”). An element name is any label used by the patent application toidentify a feature, structure or other thing contained in the patentdrawings (or not shown in the patent drawings. The element nametypically is followed by an element number however this is not required.The type of words preferably utilized for elements names include nouns(e.g. hammer, handle, signal) and adjectives (e.g. big, cold, blue).

iv. Non-Element Words

A “Non-Element Word” is any word, phrase or character that would nottypically immediately precede an element number. For example, aNon-Element Word may in fact typically precede a quantitative number ormay be a phrase commonly utilized to identify indicia in the drawings(e.g. approximately, subtracts, multiplies, averages, January, December,by arrows, Figure, Figures, patent number, reference numeral). ANon-Element Word database is maintained within the present invention.The Non-Element Word database typically includes a substantial portionof the Preceding Words (see above), however the Non-Element Worddatabase may include additional words based upon word usage in patentdocuments (or some removed). Non-Element Words are preferably comprisedof proper nouns (e.g. Tom, Delaware, Titanic), certain punctuation marks(e.g. ?, ;), symbols (!, /, *, @, $), verbs (e.g. run, cut) and months(e.g. January, December).

As shown in FIG. 3 b of the drawings, the present invention firstidentifies a number within the patent document (some portions of thepatent document may automatically be ignored such as the cover page orthe BACKGROUND OF INVENTION). Once a number is found, the first word tothe left of the element number is identified. If the first word is a“Non-Element Word” (i.e. a word, phrase or character that would nottypically precede an element number) then the number is disregarded. Thedatabase of “Non-Element Words” is preferably periodically updated andmay also be directly edited by the user at anytime.

If the word(s) to the left of the number is not a “Non-Element Word”(based on comparing with the words/phrases of the Non-Element Worddatabase), then the number is then determined to be an “Element Number”and the present invention continues to identify the Element Name byidentifying the word(s) to the left of the Element Number until either(1) a “Preceding Word” is identified (based on comparing with words inthe Preceding Word database) or (2) the maximum number of words isreached for the element name. If a Preceding Word is identified to theleft of the Element Number, then the Element Name is equal to the wordsbetween the Element Number and the Preceding Word (excluding thePreceding Word of course). If a Preceding Word is not identified after apresent or user adjusted number of words to the left of the ElementNumber (e.g. 5 words), then the present invention terminates furthersearching to the left and accepts the maximum number of words to theleft of the element number as the element name. The maximum number wordsto the left may range from 1-10, however it is preferable that themaximum number of words be set to either 3, 4 or 5 maximum words. TheElement Name is thereafter added to the index of element and the elementname listing database (along with the corresponding Element Number).Various database formats may be utilized to store the Element Name andElement Number.

This process continues until each of the element numbers have beenidentified and the corresponding element name is identified.

4. Resolving Element Name Conflicts

Some patent documents may have multiple variations of element nameswithin them for various reasons. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333uses two element names for element number 20: “tube 20”, “fluorescenttube 20” and “fluorescent light tube 20” as shown in FIG. 9 of thedrawings. It is desirable to have a solution for resolving theseconflicting variations to avoid 2 or more element names being used foran individual element number.

FIG. 3 c is a flowchart illustrating a first process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number thatutilizes the user's selection of a desired element name. As shown inFIG. 3 c, if the only difference between the variations is a plural vs.singular form, then the present invention automatically selects only oneof the variations based upon the preset or user selected option (e.g.the user may want the plural form to always be selected). If thevariation is more than just a singular/plural form usage, then thepresent invention determines if there are any similar words in all ofthe variations. If there are no similar words, then the presentinvention will keep all of the variations (or ask the user to selectone) and continues to the next element name. If there are similar wordsin all of the element names which is typically the case, then a pop-upor other selection option is displayed requesting the user to selectwhich variation of the element name they would like to use. The selectedvariation by the user is thereafter used as the element name. It can beappreciated that the plurality vs. singular test does not have to beperformed.

FIG. 3 d is a flowchart illustrating a second process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is either the longest orshortest based on a preference setting. For example, if the user wantsthe longest element name (i.e. the most words) to be used, the presentinvention chooses the element name that is the longest. If 2 or moreelement names are the longest then the user is preferably prompted tochoose which one to use.

FIG. 3 e is a flowchart illustrating a third process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number byidentifying the commonly shared words immediately to the left of thenumber in each of the element name variations. For example, in U.S. Pat.No. 5,444,333, the element name that would be used for element number 20would only be “tube” since that is the only commonly shared word to theleft element number (the 2^(nd) to the left word is different).Alternatively, the present invention may identify the element namevariation that the other variations use the words in and therebyeliminates the other element name variations as having superfluousword(s) in them.

FIG. 3 f is a flowchart illustrating a fourth process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is used first or last withinthe patent document based on a preference setting. This would be presetor user selected to help simplify the selection of a single element namefor each element number. For example, the user may select that whenconflicting element names are found for a specific element number thatonly the first instance of the element name used in conjunction with theelement number would be used and all other element name variationsdisregarded.

FIG. 3 g is a flowchart illustrating a fifth process for resolvingmultiple element name variations for a single element number by usingthe element name from the variations that is used the most (i.e. thegreatest number of occurrences) throughout the patent document. Forexample, with element number 20 for U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,333, the term“tube” is used the most to identify element number 20 and would be theonly element name used to identify element 20.

E. Image Analysis and Image Writing Over of Patent Documents

1. Labeling Element Numbers in Figures

It is desirable to label the element numbers within the patent figuresof the patent document (including the figure selected for the coverpage). This process comprises (1) identifying the figures of the patentdocument, (2) performing an optical character recognition (OCR) processof the figures, and (3) creating a new image file for each of the imagesheets containing the element names adjacent the element numbers and/ora description of each of the figures on each image sheet. FIG. 18illustrates the overall process of analyzing the figures of the patentdocument. A “key” may also be placed on the figure sheet instead ofindividually labeling each of the element numbers wherein the “key” iscomprised of the element names corresponding to the element numbersshown on the figure sheet for a quick reference by the user.

i. OCR Process

OCR processes have been in use for years and the present invention mayutilize any conventional OCR process to identify the drawing sheets, theelement numbers and/or figure numbers within each drawing sheet. Thelocation of the element numbers is also determined during the OCRprocess so that a determination may be made as to where to insert theelement names during the overwriting process. Various file formats maybe used (e.g. TIFF, PDF) for the OCR process, however it is preferablethat the TIFF file format be utilized.

During the OCR process, the header of a patent document typically willhave “Sheet_of_” along with other identifying information. Text portionsof a patent document do not have this at the top of their pages, so thisis used to identify the drawing sheets of a patent document. Othermethods may be used to identify the drawing sheets such as (1)identifying the first set of pages with little text in them, (2)identifying the first set of pages with a lot of white space, (3)identifying the first set of pages with “FIG. _” on them, or (4)identifying the first page containing the text BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION (or other text used on the first textual page of the patentdocument) thereby the pages between the cover page and the identifiedpage are the drawing sheets.

Once the cover page (the 1^(st) page) and the drawing sheets areidentified, the present invention then OCR's these pages to identify thelocation of the figures and the element numbers. During the OCR processthe figures may need to be rotated 90 degrees to compensate for figuresthat use the landscape layout (instead of the regular portrait layout).It is important on the cover page to only OCR the lower portion of thepage containing the patent figure and not the text portion of the coverpage.

Once the OCR process has been performed on the drawing sheets (and thecover page), the present invention then determines a suitable locationto overwrite the image with the text of the element name for each of thecorresponding element numbers on the drawing sheet. It is preferable tosearch to the left/right/bottom/top of the specific element number todetermine if a certain percentage (e.g. 5%) of the pixels in a requiredarea to insert the text into has black/gray pixels within whichindicates a non-suitable location to put the text (e.g. where a line ofthe figure is). It is preferable to position the text of the elementname to either the left/right side of the element number as shown inFIG. 20 of the drawings. However, if there is no location available tothe left/right of the element number, then the present inventionconsiders positioning the element name above/below the element number.If no suitable location is found, the element name may either bepositioned somewhere else on the drawing sheet near the element numberor in a “key” for element names that have no suitable location (wherethe key is positioned in a convenient and “clean” location on thedrawing sheet). It is preferable to place brackets or include anotheridentifier to identify that this text is being added to the figure sheetand is not original text.

In addition, the present invention identifies the sheets containing thefigure numbers (e.g. FIG. 1, FIG. 2, etc.) and then also identifies thecorresponding figure description text in the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWINGS section of the patent document. The present invention insertsthe description of the figure either directly above/below the figurenumber or at the top/bottom of the page. The same process of identifyingwhite space is preferably utilized for the figure description textinsertion to ensure that the added text does not overwrite the originallines/text of the drawing sheets.

The final image file (e.g. TIFF or PDF) formed from the above processthen contains the figure descriptions added to each drawing sheet and/oridentification of the element numbers by element name as shown in FIG.20 of the drawings. FIG. 19 illustrates an index of elements createdusing the present invention for U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,429 referred tohereinafter as “the '429 patent.”

After sheet 2 of the '429 patent is OCR'd, the figure descriptions addedand the element names added, FIG. 21 provides an exemplary illustrationof what the user will see (and be able to print).

2. Adding Key of Elements for Figures

Instead of identifying the element name for each element number directlynext to the element number in the drawing sheets, a simple “key” ofelements may be added to each drawing sheet containing the element namesfor the element numbers identified on the particular drawing sheet.

3. Overwriting Abstract of Cover Page with Element Numbers Included

It is preferable to identify the Abstract text in the text portion ofthe patent document and insert the element numbers into Abstract textand then overwriting the image file of the cover page with the text ofthe Abstract text with numbers.

4. Interactive Patent Figures

It is preferable to make the image files for the patent figures“interactive” wherein if the user passes over or selects an elementname/number that the corresponding sentence(s)/paragraph(s) containingthe element name/number are displayed in a pop-up or other convenientmanner. The element numbers/names may be comprised of a hyperlink orother active item that allows for selection of the same. For example, inthe '429 patent described above, if the user selects (e.g. right-clicks)upon element number 24 in FIG. 3, the following text would be displayedto conveniently and immediately show the user what the patent documentsays about that particular element number (see FIG. 21 also):

-   -   ***********************        Chalk holder 12 also comprises at least one, and preferably at        least two, slots 24 disposed along a portion of the longitudinal        axis of the chalk holder for accepting ramps 16 in sliding        engagement.    -   ***********************        Moreover, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the        art that the slots 24 and ramps 16 may be configured so as to        provide a lock against pressing the chalk holder axially within        the outer holder to release the chalk.    -   ***********************

In addition, if the user selects the figure number itself, all locationsin the patent document that discuss the selected figure number will bedisplayed in a pop-up. For example, if “FIG. 3” was selected allsentences or paragraphs(s) would be shown that contain reference to“FIG. 3” to show the user the discussion regarding that particularfigure.

What has been described and illustrated herein is a preferred embodimentof the invention along with some of its variations. The terms,descriptions and figures used herein are set forth by way ofillustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in theart will recognize that many variations are possible within the spiritand scope of the invention, which is intended to be defined by thefollowing claims (and their equivalents) in which all terms are meant intheir broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Any headingsutilized within the description are for convenience only and have nolegal or limiting effect.

I claim:
 1. A method of analyzing a patent document, said methodcomprising: providing a patent document, wherein said patent documentincludes text data; providing element name data for said patent documentcomprising a plurality of element names in said text data of said patentdocument and a plurality of element numbers associated with saidplurality of element names, wherein said step of providing element namedata comprises: providing a non-element database; identifying a firstelement number within said text data; and identifying a precedingidentifier to the left of said first element number, wherein saidpreceding identifier is within said non-element database, wherein saidfirst element name is comprised of one or more words between said firstelement number and said preceding identifier; displaying said pluralityof element names in a first display area; selecting a first identifierassociated with said first element name from said plurality of elementnames displayed in said first display area; and displaying on a firstdisplay a corresponding text portion of said text data that includessaid first element name and said first element number, wherein saidcorresponding text portion is comprised of at least one sentence thatincludes said first element name, and wherein said corresponding textportion is displayed in a second display area separate from said firstdisplay area.
 2. The method of analyzing a patent document of claim 1,including the step of selecting a second identifier associated with asecond element name from said plurality of names, wherein saidcorresponding text portion is comprised of text data that includes bothsaid first element name and said second element name.
 3. The method ofanalyzing a patent document of claim 1, wherein said corresponding textportion is comprised of at least one paragraph that includes said firstelement name.
 4. A method of analyzing a patent document, said methodcomprising: providing a patent document, wherein said patent documentincludes text data and image data comprised of a figure; providingelement name data for said patent document comprising a plurality ofelement names and a plurality of element numbers associated with saidplurality of element names in said text data of said patent document,wherein said step of providing element name data comprises: providing anon-element database; identifying a first element number within saidtext data; and identifying a preceding identifier to the left of saidfirst element number, wherein said preceding identifier is within saidnon-element database, wherein said first element name is comprised ofone or more words between said first element number and said precedingidentifier; selecting a first identifier on said figure associated witha first element name from said plurality of element names, wherein saidplurality of element numbers includes a first element number associatedwith said first element name; and displaying on a first display acorresponding text portion of said text data on said figure thatincludes said first element name and said first element number, whereinsaid corresponding text portion is comprised of at least one sentencethat includes said first element name and said first element number, andwherein said corresponding text portion is displayed in a second displayarea separate from said first display area.
 5. The method of analyzing apatent document of claim 1, including the step of displaying a separatorwhen said corresponding text portion is comprised of a plurality ofsentences, wherein said separator is positioned between two of saidplurality of sentences.
 6. The method of analyzing a patent document ofclaim 5, wherein said separator is horizontally aligned.
 7. The methodof analyzing a patent document of claim 1, including the step ofemphasizing said first element name within said corresponding textportion.
 8. The method of analyzing a patent document of claim 7,wherein said step of emphasizing said first element name is comprised ofhighlighting said first element name in a first color.
 9. The method ofanalyzing a patent document of claim 7, including the step ofemphasizing said first element number associated with said first elementname.
 10. A method of displaying one or more sentences of a patentdocument that include a first element name, said method comprising:providing a patent document, wherein said patent document includes textdata; identifying a first element number within said text data;identifying a first element name within said text data associated withsaid first element number, wherein said step of identifying a firstelement name comprises: providing a non-element database; identifying aplurality of first words to the left of said first element number withinsaid text data; and identifying a preceding identifier within saidplurality of first words, wherein said preceding identifier is withinsaid non-element database, wherein said first element name is comprisedof one or more words between said first element number and saidpreceding identifier; and displaying a corresponding text portion ofsaid text data that includes said first element name, wherein saidcorresponding text portion is comprised of at least one sentence thatincludes said first element name and said first element number; whereinsaid text data includes a plurality of element numbers associated with aplurality of element names, wherein said plurality of element numbersincludes said first element number associated with said first elementname.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said corresponding textportion includes both said first element name and said first elementnumber.
 12. The method of claim 10, including the steps of: identifyinga second element number within said text data; identifying a secondelement name within said text data associated with said second elementnumber; and displaying a corresponding text portion of said text datathat includes said first element name and said second element name,wherein said corresponding text portion is comprised of at least onesentence that includes said first element name and said second elementname.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of identifying afirst element name comprises: providing said non-element databasecomprised of proper nouns, verbs, punctuation marks, symbols and/ormonths; identifying at least one word to the left of said first elementnumber within said text data; determining if a first word to the left ofsaid first element number is a non-element word included in saidnon-element database; and identifying said first word as part of saidfirst element name if said first word is not within said non-elementdatabase.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein said non-element databaseis comprised of articles.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein saidarticles in said non-element database are comprised of the followingwords: (a) the; and (b) to.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein saidnon-element database is comprised of articles, prepositions,conjunctions, verbs, adverbs, contractions, symbols, punctuation marks,and/or relative adjectives.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein saidnon-element database is comprised of articles, prepositions,conjunctions, verbs, adverbs, contractions, expletives, symbols,punctuation marks, and relative adjectives.
 18. A method of displayingone or more sentences of a patent document that include a first elementname, said method comprising: providing a patent document, wherein saidpatent document includes text data; identifying a first element numberwithin said text data; identifying a first element name within said textdata associated with said first element number, wherein said step ofidentifying a first element name comprises: providing a non-elementdatabase; identifying at least one word to the left of said firstelement number within said text data; determining if a first word to theleft of said first element number is a non-element word included in saidnon-element database; identifying said first word as part of said firstelement name if said first word is not within said non-element database;and identifying a preceding identifier to the left of said first elementnumber, wherein said preceding identifier is within said non-elementdatabase, wherein said first element name is comprised of one or morewords between said preceding identifier and said first element number;and displaying a corresponding text portion of said text data thatincludes said first element name, wherein said corresponding textportion is comprised of at least one sentence that includes said firstelement name and said first element number; wherein said text dataincludes a plurality of element numbers associated with a plurality ofelement names, wherein said plurality of element numbers includes saidfirst element number associated with said first element name.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein said corresponding text portion includesboth said first element name and said first element number.
 20. Themethod of claim 18, wherein said non-element database is comprised ofproper nouns, verbs, punctuation marks, symbols and/or months.